Grade cleaner



Aug. 25, 192s. 1,550,948

A. J. CLAUSEN GRADE CLEANER l Filed March 2o, 1924 2 sheets-sheet 1 iwt/,

3 l 23 umm@ Aug. 25,` 1925. 1,550,948 A. J. cLAusEN GRADE CLEANER FiledMarch 20. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lll Patented Aug. `25, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW JAMES CLAUSEN, 0F SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALFT0 V. L, MARCHAL, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW J AMns CLAU- snN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of San Francisco, county of San Francisco, Stateof California, have invented a new and useful Grade Cleaner, of whichthe following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in vgrading implements forhighways and has particular reference to a grade cleaner adapted to beused in combination with a road bed grading implement commonly known asa sub-grader. The latter implement is used to cut down a previouslyprepared roadbed to the exact grade desired and comprises in itsprincipal features a large frame coinciding in width substantially withthe width of the roadbed and supported on small wheels adapted to rideon two header boards disposed on the sides of the road bed. Theconnection between the wheels and the frame can be adjusted so that theframe can be lowered stepwise relative to the wheels and that bladesdepending from the frame will cut the grade down to the eXact pointdesired. The blades in this instrument lmofwn asf the sub-grader areusually arranged in slanting relation so as to leave windrows oftailings which latter at the present time are usually removed from theroadbed by means of shovels or horse propelled scrapers. In the presentinvention it is pro-posed to provide a grade cleaner in connection withthis sub-grader that is made to trail the sub-grader to pick up thetailings, to lift the same to a certain elevation and dump them on achute, the lower end of which extends over the header board so that thetailings are delivered to a place outside of the roadbed. Furtherobjects and advantages of my device will appear as the specificationproceeds.

The preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing in which Figure 1 shows a top plan view of the right half of asub-grader with my grade cleaner attached thereto, it being understoodthat the arrangement on the left hand side is similar to that on theright hand side, Figure 2 a rear view of my grade cleaner, Figure 3 aninside View of a left hand elevating wheel forming the main part of mygrade cleaner and Figure f1 a vertical section through the same takenalong line L1--4 of Figure While I have shown only GRADE CLEANER.

Application filed March 20, 1924. Serial No. 700,596.

the preferred form of the invention it should be understood that variouschanges or modifications may be made 'within the scope of the claimshereto attached without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The sub-grader (1) comprises a frame consisting of transverse members(2) substantially coextensive with the width of the roadbed andlongitudinal angle irons (3) secured to the top thereof. The frame issupported by means of the adjustable arrangement (4) on the wheels (6)which latter are adapted to ride on the header boards (7) disposed onopposite sides of the grade. Blades (8) depend from the separator andengage the road surface for scraping the same to a certain depth andthey are formed to leave the removed dirt or tailings arranged inwindrows behind the sub-grader.

My grade cleaner is designed to pick up these tailings and to deliverthe same outside of the header boards without disturbing the latter. Itcomprises in its main features a frame (9) preferably made substantiallytriangular in form and pivoted to the rear end of the subgrader frame ona horizontal axis as shown at (11). The rear end of the frame issupported by bearings (12) on the axle (18) of a large wheel (14), whichlatter is thereby caused to trail the sub-grader and which is positionedbetween two frame members (16) in such a manner as to run along side ofand in close proximity to one of the header boards. It should beremembered that one of my grade cleaners is provided on either side ofthe roadbed to be graded. The frame (9) supports the mold board or blade(17) which latter is set at an angle to the direction of the roadbed andis arranged to move the dirt or tailings left behind the separator tothe side of the roadbed and deliver the same to the large wheel (14) atthe point where it contacts the roadbed, that is substantiallyperpendicularly under its axis. The mold board is preferably made in.two parts y(18) and (19), the former of which is supported on brackets(21) suspended from the frame (9) with freedom of vertical adjustment asshown at (22), while the part (19) is pivoted to the bracket (23), atits outer end so that its lowermost point at the eX- treme outer end ison a level with the bottom of the wheel (14:), while its inner end issecured to the outer end of the part (18) with freedom of verticaladjustment as shown at (24), so as to allow the two part-s to be alignedafter the part (1S) has been adjusted to a definite depth.

The wheel (14) itself comprises as its principal parts a wide rim (26)preferably made of sheet metal, the hub (27) and the spokes (28)connecting the hub with the rim. As will be seen from Figure 4 thespokes are arranged to occupy only the inner or end portion of the wheelso that a large outer portion of the same remains unoccupied and allowsthe upper end of a chute (29) to eX- tend thereinto above the hubwithout in any way interfering with the revolving of the wheel. rlhechute is supported on a bracket (31) secured on the outer frame member(16) and extends laterally sufliciently far to reach over the headerboard and to deliver dirt dumped on the same on the outside of the roadbed. The rim of the wheel has a plurality of Scoop buckets (32) securedthereon, each scoop bucket comprising a bottom extending from the riminwardly at an angle to a radial line while the rim itself forms theback of each bucket. One side of each bucket is finished by the flange(34) extending inwardly from the rim on the outer end of the wheel whilethe other or inner side of each bucket is formed by a plate (36) whichruns perpendicularly to the rim in the adjacent portion as shown at (37)and is then deflected outwardly as shown at (38) so that the dischargeopening of each bucket is confined to the space within the wheel leftunoccupied by the spokes of the same. It will be readily seen that asthe wheel, as shown in Figure 3, advances to the right end as the dirtis delivered to the lowermost point of the same by the mold board (17)the dirt will be forced on the rim and while being lifted by the rimwill dropinto one of the buckets (32) and remain in said bucket untilthe latter has been raised to a suflicient height to have its bottomslant downwardly when the dirt will begin to be discharged. At this timethe bucket is above the chute (29) so` that the dirt discharged from thebucket is automatically guided by the chute over the header boards to aplace outside of the roadbed. It will be noted that the back of eachbucket is substantially coextensive with the rim of the wheel so thatfor the picking up of the dirt the whole width of the wheel is utilized.

The outlet or discharge portion of each bucket is narrowed due to thedeflection of the side plate (38) so that when the dirt is dumped noportion thereof will fall on the spokes and all the dirt will bedelivered to the chute. To prevent the dirt or tailings placed on therim by the mold board from falling off the rim before being received inone of the buckets (32) I provide a guard plate (41) to cover the lowerrear portion on the wheel which latter guard plate is secured to themold board as shown at (42). A second plate (43) is provided to coverthe lower front portion of the wheel and to prevent dirt from rollingunder the wheel instead of on the rim, The latter plate is suspendedfrom one, of the frame members (16). rl`he position of these two platesis indicated in dotted lines on Figure 3.

The operation of the device should be readily understood from theforegoing description. The large wheel (14) trails the sub-grader andthe dirt or tailings left by the sub-grader are pushed over to the wheeland on the bottom portion of the rim thereof, the plate (43) preventingthe dirt from being pushed over the wheel and the plate (41) preventingthe dirt from dropping off the wheel as the latter revolves. During therotation of the wheel the dirt is collected in the rising buckets andafter the latter have reached a position near the top of the wheel thedirt is dumped through the discharge opening (39) into the chute (29)which latter delivers the dirt over the header board on the outside ofthe roadbed.

I claim:

1. A grade cleaner for a roadbed bounded by header boards comprising awheel, means for advancing the same alongside of one of the headerboards, means for delivering tailings lying on the roadbed to the rim ofthe wheel, a chute supported in fixed relation to the wheel projectingover the header board and means associated with the wheel for liftingthe tailings and for dumping them on the chute.

2. A grade cleaner for aI roadbed bounded by header boards comprising awheel, means for advancing the same alongsde of one of the headerboards, means for delivering tailings lying on the roadbed to the rim ofthe wheel, a chute supported in fixed rela-tion to the wheel projectingover the header board and means associated with the wheel for liftingthe tailings and for dumping them on the chute, said means comprisingscoop buckets secured inside of the rim carrying the tailings upwardlyand dropping the same when approaching their highest point of travel.

3. A wheel for elevating material and dumping the same on a chutetravelling with the wheel comprising a comparatively wide wheel rim, ahub, spokes between the rim and the hub occupying an end portion of therim only with the chute supported to extend into the portion left .clearof spokes, and scoop buckets moving with the rim formed to receivematerial, to lift the same as the wheel advances and to dump the sameinto the chute when approaching their highest point of travel.

4. A Wheel for elevating material and JN Abra n. i mi rn dumping thesame on a chute travelling with the wheel comprising a comparativelywide wheel rim, a hub, spokes between the rim and the hub occupying anend portion of the rim only with the chute supported to eX- tend intothe portion left clear of spokes, and scoop buckets moving with the rimformed to receive material, to lift the same as the wheel advances andto dump the same into the `chute when approaching their highest point oftravel, the discharge opening for the buckets being outside of the spokecontrolled area of the rim.

5. Means for feeding material from a roadbed to the rim of an advancingwheel comprising a frame supported on the wheel axle and a scraper bladetraveling over the roadbed supported on the frame so as to guidematerial lying on the roadbed to the road contacting portion of thewheel.

6. In combination, a grader Jfor a roadbed having header boards on thesides therei. il

of, a wheel trailing the grader having a chute associated therewithextending over one of the header boards, a diagonally disposed scraperblade feeding tailings of the grader to the roadbed engaging portion ofthe wheel and means associated with the wheel for elevating the tailingsand for dumping the same on the chute 7 In combination, a grader for aroadbed having header boards on the sides thereof, a wheel trailing thegrader having a chute associated therewith extending over one of theheader boards, a diagonally disposed scraper blade feeding tailings ofthe grader to the roadbed engaging portion of the wheel and meansassociated with the wheel for elevating the tailings and for dumping thesame on the chute, protecting plates being provided for confining thetailings to the wheel rim.

ANDREW JAMES CLASEN.

